Chinese publishing expert Xu Yi told AFP that the implications of the rules were unclear. “I think these regulations provide a legal basis for the government to manage foreign companies setting up websites in China,” he said.

“I don’t think this means that websites opened by foreigners in China will be forced to close…it all depends on the Chinese government’s intentions”.

Writing on the website Tech In Asia, veteran China watcher Charles Custer said the rules were an attempt by SAPPRFT to play a bigger role in content management, previously seen as the domain of other government agencies.

“SAPPRFT has traditionally been a regulator of offline publications, but it has increasingly been flexing its online muscles over the past decade, and occasionally clashing with other censorship organs,” he said.

“In practice, the new regulation isn’t likely to change much beyond adding another hurdle would-be publishers have to jump through,” he added.

The regulations come at a time of heightened political restrictions in China.

Authorities have proposed a new law to control the activities of foreign non-governmental organisations, while state media have warned of “hostile foreign forces” said to be using them to foment revolution.

In recent years, censors in Beijing have moved to ban certain TV shows and movies from abroad from being shown online and authorities have decried “Western” influence on the country’s educational system.